


Dark Youths

by tender_sushijima



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Literature Club - Freeform, Multi, Murder Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-04-27 05:07:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14418324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tender_sushijima/pseuds/tender_sushijima
Summary: Yachi  Hitoka  was  the  daughter  of  Miyagi  Central  Academy's  director  and  she  was  the  president  of  the  Literature  Club.  Everyone  loved  her  for  her  friendliness.  One  day,  she  died  in  the  campus,  falling  off  the  rooftop  of  a  building.  She  held  a  crow's  feather  in  her  hands.  A  rumor  spreads  that  somebody  in  the  Literature  Club  had  killed  Yachi.  A  friend  of  Yachi's,  Shimizu  Kiyoko,  held  a  club  meeting  for  the  remaining  members,  with  the  theme  being  "Yachi  Hitoka's  death",  in  order  to  discover  the  truth  of  the  question:Did  Yachi  kill  herself  or  was  she  killed  intentionally?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I watched this movie while I was bored one day and I was ready to tune out halfway through but I stayed because I DONT GIVE UP HALFWAY and now look where it got me. It's not a work I take full credits of because I pretty much ripped off most of the plot here, but I was curious to see how I would take it if I plugged in the Karasuno first years.
> 
> You can go watch the actual movie because it's really good. Not much difference with what I wrote here but the movie and book are definitely better. It's called "Dark Maidens", or "Ankoku Joshi".

It was still a dark night.

          Not to say that most nights aren’t dark, but this night was particularly dark for the five Literature Club members of Miyagi Central Academy. To their defense, it was pouring heavily and the wind howled like a desperate cry for help. The violent swaying of tree branches scraped against the windows of the parlor and the raindrops thundering on it made for an overnight stay. However, for four of them, the parlor has become the last place they would ever want to be in.

          “Welcome to the last club meeting of the semester,” Shimizu, the club vice president and only third year present, announced. She stood before the table where the other four sat around, a large window behind her casting a white glow on her. She regarded each of them with a gentle smile though her eyes stilled behind her round silver glasses. “I would like to express my gratitude for your anticipation tonight with a dish that you and I have helped create.”

          The four of the club members turned to the large pot sitting on the table. It’s steaming, still being boiled on the portable stove at the center. Neither of them denied the hunger that’s been settling in their stomachs for quite a while, especially with the queasy feeling that anxiety brought along. Before each of them was a plate and several cutleries that included a knife, which suggested that the food cooking in the pot has meat. Just the thought of eating meat was enough to invest them into whatever last minute thing Shimizu had asked of them, even if their hearts pounded harder than the bell in the campus as they were walking towards the parlor.

          Shimizu breathed out a laugh at their silence. “If you’d please, you may eat as the meeting goes on,” she said to them. “This might take a while to conclude, but it’ll help if you have something to eat.”

          As one of them was reaching for the lid of the pot, the lights in the parlor went off. Panicking, they looked around to see if the lightning had actually zapped the electricity, but it was Shimizu who’d switched the lights off. She smiled at them in the dark, her profile barely illuminated by the streetlights outside a nearby window. “ _Yaminabe_ must be eaten in the dark, remember?”

          It was meant to be a hypothetical question, but the silence was growing thicker by the second so she continued, “There are a few rules that you must observe while this meeting is going on. No one shall talk or interrupt when someone is speaking. No questions either.”

          None of them moved or even dared to look at her as she started to walk around the table slowly, heading towards a table at the corner. “Each of us will get a turn to read out our short story and while that happens, the listening parties can have their portion of _yaminabe_.”

          She looked over her shoulder when she’s reached the table, seeing them all stiffened in place. “I hope that nobody revealed their secret ingredients.”

          Then, a scratch was heard. They turned to the sound and saw Shimizu lighting a large candle with a matchstick. As the little flicker of fire landed atop the candle, Shimizu picked it up by the holder and held it up to the side of her face. The fire glinted off her glasses with a blinding orange glow. “Specially for tonight, I also prepared a dessert, but I will not present it until we reach the end of this meeting.” She looked around at the four shadowed figures, hunched over the table and unmoving, pot untouched. “What’s the matter? Go on and have a bite. I promise none of your ingredients are unpalatable.”

          Reluctantly, they started to pick up their utensils and took off the lid. Shimizu frowned sympathetically when they muttered a very quiet and barely comprehensible _thank you for the food_ under their breaths, but smiled fondly without making any comment.

          “I shall cut to the chase now, since we are only here for a limited amount of time,” she picked up, crossing an arm across her middle.

          _Slurp_ , their lips did at the delectable soup, and _clink_ , went their utensils against the silverware. It was clear to Shimizu that the four of them liked her take on _yaminabe_ and she smiled to herself. It helped a lot too that they were probably hungry before they came.

          “Today’s purpose for the meeting is something we are all aware of. As per usual, we Literature Club members have to present a short story every month, and this month is no exception.”

          Shimizu heard the smacking sounds of someone chewing. She had made sure to cook the stew a few minutes longer to make them soft and juicy, knowing how much they liked to eat meat.

          “Although the theme is usually free for us to choose for ourselves, tonight's is slightly different because I have chosen it for all of us. Tonight’s theme is…” Shimizu paused in suspense, stopping before the window on the left side of the parlor, looking out at the graying expanse of the outside as the rain roared on. “…the death of Yachi Hitoka.”

          Right at that moment, thunder growled outside and illuminated the entire parlor for a split second. The four faces shone bright with the intensity of the sudden light and they were startled simultaneously, jumping on their seats and choking on the stew, their chairs scraping against the wooden floor from shock and the silverware clattering in an ear-splitting cacophony.

          Shimizu, despite her strict assertion for dining etiquette, did not pay any mind to the one member who shot out of his seat and wiped vigorously at his shirt with the tablecloth. She kept her eyes on the raindrops running down the window, a distant look on her orange-lit face. “Why did she choose to die like that? Jumping off the roof of the building and landing on a bed of flowers underneath. Holding onto a crow’s feather.” Shimizu exhaled quietly and turned to look at each of them. They had stopped eating but she didn’t pester them any further. “One of us must have killed her.”

          Another thunder rumbled, but this time, the four guys were as still as the four marble statues that stood outside the window, planted on the four corners of the park where the parlor sat on. Shimizu hates to admit it, but they had striking resemblance to those statues. The very statues that the late Yachi Hitoka had adored and admired so much, before her fate was concluded cruelly.

          Shimizu turned away from them, walking away from the window as well. “Rumors spread quickly on campus. People suspected that one of us, her best friends and fellow club members, had killed her.” She let out an empty, sad laugh. “While that sounds ridiculous, all of us have heard stories surrounding her death, but we all know the truth. The truth of why she had to die like that, and who killed her.”

          A smile cracked on Shimizu’s expressionless face and she reached out a hand to the one sitting closest to where she stood. “Yamaguchi, you’ll be the first one to read,” she placed a hand on his shoulder, gentle and light as feather.

          Yamaguchi, the freckly-faced guy with the stubborn strand of hair on the top of his head, jolted at the touch. He loosened his tense shoulders with a shrug and cleared his throat, hoping to not seem nervous. He then stood from the chair, which scraped noisily against the floor, and headed for the podium.

          Three pairs of eyes followed Yamaguchi warily. Shimizu’s smile spread wider as she announced ceremoniously, “The 78th regular meeting of Miyagi Central Academy’s Literature Club with the theme of _yaminabe_ and short story officially begins.”

          Yamaguchi took his manuscript from the stack on the podium, gulping furtively even amidst the confines of the darkness. He placed it before him and as if on command, a light shone from above. He turned, spotting Shimizu by the wall, a hand on the light switch. She smiled at him and beckoned for him to proceed.

          He took a deep breath, then began.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first story is by our one and only Yamaguchi Tadashi! Man, he's the cutest with Yachi and I had The Time Of My Life writing his story. Like what I mentioned in the intro -- or the first chapter, if you may -- most of the stuff happening here is the same as the movie/book, but I had altered them so they could fit the characters and the crow analogy whatsoever.
> 
> So here ya go!

* * *

 [ Human like a blooming flower. ]

by Yamaguchi Tadashi

 

Attending Miyagi Central Academy had always been his biggest dream, after learning that many well-renowned authors had graduated from it. Yamaguchi is an avid reader and writer, and when he won the scholarship competition with his thousand-word essay, it naturally felt like all the stars and the planets in the galaxy had aligned for him. His family was poor and he wouldn't have been able to afford the admission fees, so really, it was a miracle that became the turning point in his life.

          Unfortunately, that's where all the luck had ended for him.

          Classes were of a slightly different caliber than the ones Yamaguchi was used to, so it took some time for him to adjust to the fast-paced studying. On top of that, the campus was huge and he would’ve gotten lost so often if he hadn’t asked for directions whenever he encounters a new destination. But that wasn’t half of Yamaguchi’s problems.

          He had no one to talk to for as long as he could remember; everyone knew practically everyone else, and it made Yamaguchi feel completely alienated. It was a horrible feeling and it tempted him to hide in the library for the entire day, if he wasn’t constantly questioning about his true intentions of coming to the academy despite all his big talks about following his dreams.

          Which, speaking of, the library has become his sanctuary. It’s his safe haven and sole destination after classes. He’s had many different paths leading to the large building memorized and imprinted in the back of his head so he could quickly get there in the shortest time possible. It’s quiet and clean, and not many students are around during certain hours of the day, which suited him just fine. In addition, the abundance of the books in the fiction works section, which had not only worldwide famous titles but also those of the alumni, really pulled him in. The library has everything to offer and he was practically in love with it, so much so that his fears about not having any friends were forgotten.

          Yachi Hitoka was the one who had introduced him to a co-genre he’s never ventured into, which was suspense and thriller. She'd come over to where Yamaguchi sat at the farthest end of the table, tucked away in the corner of the second floor, and slid a book towards him. “Try reading this book, won’t you?”

          He looked up from his current book, down at the book on the table and frowned. _Parade_ , the title said, a book by a Japanese author whom Yamaguchi had never heard of. At Yachi, he lifted a brow. “What?” he timidly said.

          Even in retrospect, it was odd to him how welcoming Yachi was on that day. She had the brightest smile that Yamaguchi’s ever seen on any person and he won’t deny that it’d stunned him so much that he stared a little longer than he’d intended to. It was like a flower opening up to the sun after long days of cloud and rain, an image that popped into his mind as he grew hyperaware of the library’s bland interior and the icy cold air that seeped down to his bones. Yachi being there literally warmed him up – his neck burned and he was sure he’d gotten red as a tomato on the face.

          Yamaguchi retained not enough social cues to see why someone like Yachi would approach him and ask what he thinks of a book written by some author he wasn’t familiar with. As far as he knew, Yachi was the daughter of the academy’s director and that she was friends with nearly everyone. It was crystal clear to him when he began observing her after their first encounter. Everyone loved her like a little sister they never had and everyone wanted to be like her, the bubbly and adorable student of the campus. Over time, she became more and more similar to the flower that Yamaguchi had associated her with, only more vibrant and rarer than even the seasonal bloomers.

          On hindsight, Yamaguchi should’ve guessed from her enthusiasm that her true motive was to make him join the Literature Club to which she was president of.

          “Why would you want me in there?” Yamaguchi asked after he was done telling her of his opinions on _Parade_. They sat on a bench by the park several days after the library meeting, Yachi having found him as he was heading to the cafeteria and forcibly dragging him outside to eat homemade sandwiches with her.

          “You’re the winner of the essay competition, you know? You of all people should know why!” Yachi gushed, eyes bright and sparkling under the light of early morning. The largeness of her dark brown pupils made the lights dance in them like stars, which brought to his attention the three stars clipped to the side of her hair.

          It was lucky timing that Yamaguchi had just swallowed the last bite of his sandwich because Yachi was advancing towards him in a way that would’ve made him choke if he was still eating. He furtively scooted away to maintain a decent distance. “I mean, I guess I do, but still. Why?”

          Yachi blinked at him like she didn’t understand what he was saying. “’Why’, you ask? Why, because I want you in my club! You’re a great writer and you’re fond of reading – where else would you go if not my club during your free times?”

          _The library_ , Yamaguchi mentally responded as matter-of-factly, but he yielded under her pressuring eye contact. “You… read my essay, didn’t you? And you asked for my review on that book to see if I’m worthy of being recruited?”

          “That’s too critical of a viewpoint but yes,” Yachi nodded. “You don’t really go anywhere after classes, right? Might as well make that time worthwhile in the Literature Club.”

          The implication that Yamaguchi has no friends to hang out with after classes normally would cut him deep, but coming from Yachi, it sounded as if she was concerned of his welfare. So he agreed to her invitation, much to her delight and to his surprise.

          Unique to Miyagi Central Academy, there are rooms accessible to a select few people called parlors, and they belong to only the most outstanding of clubs and units. Yamaguchi was surprised that a club of only five members held enough influence to own one, especially one so refined and classy, like something out of a Victorian interior design catalogue. Leather sofas and armchairs took up most of the space in the middle and there’s a lacquered mahogany study table further behind. There’s stained glass behind it and large windows with a rusted texture allowing as much light to enter without taking up too much of the wall. The floor was wooden and polished to a lustrous shine and miniature trident-styled sconces lit the room in a soft orange glow. A large golden chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, dotted with pearls and crystals, showering the room in pinpricks of rainbow and sparkles.

          It was an extremely exquisite theme that they had incorporated into the parlor, but instinctively, Yamaguchi was immediately drawn towards the built-in bookshelves that lined the walls of the parlor untouched by windows. So many books of so many sizes, colors, cover designs, authors and times – Yamaguchi knew this was to be expected of a literature club but this was transcending all of his expectations. Of course, Miyagi Central Academy is known for their list of successful writing alumni, and this was nothing out of ordinary.

          “Oooh! A new member?!”

          Yamaguchi wasn’t prepared for the tackle-hug that came with the exclamation. He barely managed to keep himself upright as he held onto the additional weight that nearly sent him sprawling to the floor. “Um, hi?” he awkwardly greeted the guy clinging onto him like a napping koala.

          “Hi! Nice to meet you! I’m Hinata Shouyou!” he beamed at Yamaguchi in similar fashion as Yachi, albeit a little too enthusiastic for his liking.

          Yachi was extremely friendly but Yamaguchi never thought that she would be friends with someone who’s the embodiment of an energy drink. Especially more so with the brilliant shock of orange mess atop his head, as if all the food coloring he'd been consuming had gone straight to his follicles instead of getting digested. It also reminded Yamaguchi briefly of his own terrible bed hair that he’d long given up on fixing.

          “Yeah, nice to meet you too,” he stammered, hoping to sound as casual as he could whilst still holding onto Hinata so he wouldn’t fall. “I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi.”

          “Hinata is on scholarship too, but a sports one!” Yachi chirped excitedly. “He’s the ace of our volleyball team!”

          “Yachi, that’s embarrassing,” he scratched his nape, smiling sheepishly.

          “You have to flaunt it while you still got it! After all, you’re barely hanging on with the help of Tsukishima with your academics.”

          There was laughter from behind Yamaguchi as Hinata processed Yachi’s teasing remark. “Don’t laugh, Stingyshima!” he brandished an accusing finger pass Yamaguchi, who turned curiously.

          A tall guy, blond and slender, sneered at Hinata while adjusting his glasses. He crossed his arms and shifted his attention to Yamaguchi, lifting a brow at his irresponsiveness. “Tsukishima Kei. Nice to meet you, Yamaguchi.”

          “Likewise,” Yamaguchi returned, suddenly tense from his steady and level gaze.

          Just then, the door of the parlor swayed open and in came a girl, shoulder-length black hair and bespectacled, and quite possibly a stunner if Yamaguchi hadn’t initially come across Yachi. “Shimizu! Great timing.” Yachi pulled her towards the group and linked their arms together, amazing Yamaguchi further with the variety in her social circle. “This is third year Shimizu Kiyoko! She’s my best friend and the most reliable vice president of the club. If you need anything, you can go to her.”

          Shimizu inclined her head and smiled at Yamaguchi. “Nice to meet you,” she said softly, so soft it would’ve gone unheard if all his senses hadn’t become more sensitive the longer he was in there.

          “Yamaguchi Tadashi. Nice to meet you too.”

          He was too stupefied to even hear what the next thing being said to him was and he was thankful that the entrance of another person pulled away the attention on him.

          “Guys, I made something new today,” said the new guy, wearing a frilly apron and carrying a tray of what looked like cream puffs. “I just finished making some profiteroles.”

          “And he’s Kageyama Tobio, our resident baking fanatic and the one member who’s rarely ever hanging with us,” Yachi spoke in his stead. “Right, Kageyama?”

          He scowled at that, murmuring indignantly and it was impossible for Yamaguchi to take him seriously given that he’s wearing a frilly apron and holding a tray of profiteroles glazed in thick chocolate sauce. “I do attend club meetings you know,” he said defensively. “Or maybe you were too busy stuffing yourself with the things that I made to notice.”

          “Aw, the little blueberry is wearing the new apron we got him!” Hinata cooed, hopping towards him and throwing his arms around the baker. “Hey, I get two of these bad boys, right? I won the race today.”

          “Hinata, you dumbass. _I_ won the race today, not you.”

          “Yeah, right! Well you haven’t been exercising lately, so I’m definitely in need of more food than you do, since you get to eat them whenever you want to.”

          “You’re an athlete with a strict diet regime, and I have an experience of twelve years over your amateur butt, in case you forgot.”

          “But who’s the one still playing? _Not you!”_

          “Dumbass,” Kageyama shot Hinata a glare but settled for a more neutral expression when he turned to Yamaguchi. “Nice to meet you. I hope you don’t mind being stuck with these people here.”

          “Oh, don’t exclude yourself,” Tsukishima said, rolling his eyes. “You’re just the same as us, if not worse.”

          Yamaguchi managed a rickety nod, flustered from how welcoming the idiosyncratic members of the Literature Club were. “Yeah, thanks.”

          “Let’s go eat!” Hinata enthused and was about to make a run for the sofa when Yamaguchi stopped him. “Hm? What’s up?”

          “Oh no, it’s just…” Yamaguchi studied Hinata’s attire. “That’s the limited edition tracksuit from Crows, right? The sports brand?”

          Hinata appeared to not understand what Yamaguchi was saying but it clicked in his head a beat later. “Ah, yeah! That’s the one. You know this brand too?”

          “Of course I would know it. It’s such a popular brand! For a sports-oriented one, anyway, but I’ve known it for a while since I used to play volleyball.”

          If Yachi was the personification of a morning glory, then Hinata was the sun. No wonder she was friends with him. His dark eyes shone even brighter than the orange of his hair and he pounced on Yamaguchi once again. “Really? That’s so cool! What position did you play? Why did you quit?”

          “Well, it’s kind of a long story…”

          “Hinata’s tracksuit is actually one-of-a-kind,” Yachi appeared between them, thankfully cutting off Yamaguchi from having to retell an old tale. “This design is not in the market yet, so for maybe several weeks, it belongs to only Hinata. Now, I know it’s great that the both of you are closer due to your volleyball involvement, but we’ve got to take our portion of profiteroles before they’re finished.”

          They got along fairly well – the members and Yamaguchi as well. With Kageyama’s deliciously sweet profiteroles as the catalyst, it was a pleasant and enjoyable time. For once, Yamaguchi felt positive of his decision to come to the academy. He had a rough start, but surely things were starting to change now. He had joined a club and made new friends; he must’ve judged too soon about his situation.

          Everyone was recovering from a bad pun showdown between Kageyama and Tsukishima and it was so bad that not only was Yamaguchi tearing up – his stomach hurt from all the contractions.

          “Ah, you guys are so good at this that I’m actually full from laughing,” Yachi sighed, wiping under an eye. She smiled at Yamaguchi, happy to see him just as happy, when she thought of something. “Would you like my portion, Yamaguchi? I don’t think I can take more.”

          His eyes widened. “Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly. He was honestly feeling a little full from all the laughing, but he doubted he could’ve resist having more of the dessert.

          So he took Yachi’s portion and happily ate all of it, which turned out to be the worst decision of his life, but not one he regrets. Maybe he was already full to begin with, or that his stomach panicked from processing so much of new food, but he had to rush to the nearest toilet and stay for at least fifteen minutes before he headed home. Needless to say, his throat had burned like a volcano had erupted in there.

         But on the bright side, Yamaguchi’s life gradually improved. Every day was nothing short of fun for him in the Literature Club. Shimizu was rarely around due to her piling final semester assignments but she would occasionally drop by to say hi. Hinata was loud as ever, believing that being louder than everyone was better than anything. Kageyama would sometimes go off on a spiel about his desserts while everyone relished in it, too busy savoring the taste to listen to him. Tsukishima was always commenting sarcastic things at anything and everything, but he meant no harm in his words. Yachi was the glue that pulled them all together, the central focus of the club’s constant hustle and bustle. And Yamaguchi? He was content with just being in there with them, surrounded by books and nothing too concerning. He was just only getting used to being perfectly fine and comfortable with his life, but unfortunately, life had other plans for him.

          It was on their second week together when Yachi approached him after the evening classes were over. There was nobody around the stairway at the end of the hall but they spoke in hushed voices due to the sensitivity of the topic.

          “Yachi, if I don’t work, my family will be thrown out of our apartment,” Yamaguchi reasoned with her. “I don’t have any other choice but to do it. No place wants to hire me – not even a convenience store.”

          “But still, it’s against the rules to be doing that kind of part-time job, or any part-time job in general. The leaflets you were distributing could be a scam that your boss doesn’t want to be responsible for, considering how much he’s paying you for it. Not to mention how dangerous that area of town is at nighttime…”

          “Still, I can get enough in the time that I have left.” Seeing that Yachi was still hesitant, Yamaguchi bit his lip in desperation. “Then you can just keep quiet about it. Pretend you never saw me. That’s good enough for me.”

          “Yamaguchi…”

          “Please, that’s all that I ask of you.”

          Yachi was silent. He knew he was asking too much of her, the director’s daughter, and that he could easily get her in trouble for turning a blind eye at his forbidden acts. However, it wasn’t like there were other choices available – there were only two weeks left before the due date of the six-months-long delayed payments and the amount he had to cover up could never be earned shortly after he began any job with minimum wages, especially not when no employer wants to take him in. Yamaguchi knew he shouldn’t have accepted a shady job offer with such a high pay but he refused to give up without a fight.

          As he was starting to feel low from the wall that they’ve both hit in the conversation, Yachi exclaimed, “I know!” She took his hands and clasped it inside her two tiny ones, willing him to look up at her. Her eyes had returned to life and Yamaguchi was confounded at the change in emotion. “Why don’t you tutor my nephews as a part-time job? It’s not against the rules of the academy and my mom wouldn’t mind that.”

          Yamaguchi blinked. Tutor her nephews? “But I’m not a qualified person for that job. I’m not smart either.”

          “But you got the scholarship! I think that’s smart enough to teach two elementary schoolboys. What do you say?”

          It wasn’t a bad offer but he’s reluctant about getting involved with Yachi’s family. Not that he’s afraid of them; he’s only worried he wouldn’t leave a good impression on them for his reason upon agreeing to tutor the nephews. Besides, there’s also the problem of meeting Yachi’s mother in her house. How could he ever prepare himself for something of such a grand scale?

          He was not prepared at all even as Yachi led him into her spacious living room, his fingers fisting and pulling at his pants. “Nice to meet you, Madam Yachi. I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi,” he greeted with jittery nerves, bowing before the director. He felt so out of place in there, a fish out of water, more than when he’d first entered Miyagi Central. His plaid socks never looked so filthy in his eyes until then, with marble floors beneath them.

          “Yamaguchi Tadashi, this year’s scholarship winner,” Madam Yachi said to herself. He felt her eyes skimming over his entirety and sweat on his palms. It’s a good thing that she didn't ask for a handshake. “Of course. Hitoka’s told me a lot about you. I just hope those two boys won’t cause too much trouble for you.”

          “Don’t worry, mom! I’ve seen him teach Hinata and Kageyama,” Yachi assured her. “He’s really good!”

          “Who’re you talking bad about, huh?”

          Yamaguchi’s head shot up to see Hinata bounding down the stairs and joining them at the living room.

          “Shouyou, make sure you don’t push yourself too hard,” Madam Yachi said to him, patting him on the head.

          “Yes, ma’am. I’ll take better care of myself!”

          Madam Yachi rolled her eyes but said nothing. She excused herself to attend a conference meeting and left the three of them to their own devices, the muted engines of a car fading away in the distance.

          “Um, are you two childhood friends?” Yamaguchi asked them once the car can no longer be heard.

          “Surprisingly, no,” Hinata shook his head. “We only knew each other during orientation day.”

          “Hinata was known throughout the whole of his high school volleyball career and it turns out that his coach was a close friend of my mom, so she gave him the sports scholarship since he wasn’t good at studying."

          “ _Hey.”_

          “She said she might take it off if he doesn’t do well in his studies, which is why he’s in the club and doing his very best.”

          Hinata scowled at Yachi’s blunt statement while she grinned at him. Then, she hooked an arm around Yamaguchi’s and dragged him alongside her. “Let’s go meet my two nephews. They’re always upstairs playing in Hinata’s room when they come over.”

          “They love me more than you do, Yachi.”

          Sure enough, they do love Hinata more than Yachi, perhaps because they’re boys, but it’s clear to Yamaguchi five minutes into tutoring them that it’s because Yachi was brutal when it comes to studying. It only lasted about two hours, with an eighty percent passing rate for the two nephews and a sixty for Hinata, and the three of them were off to play volleyball on the lawn as soon as Yamaguchi was done ticking their papers.

          When asked about why Hinata was in her house prior to Yachi’s return and even has his own room, she explained to him. Hinata has the proclivity of using too much stamina during practices and ends up too exhausted to cycle back up to his house in the mountains. Ironically, his alleged infinite stamina came from all the constant cycling and his previous jogging habits, but he’d exerted himself too much in the past and he now has a limit to his performance.

          Yachi had gone out of the room to pick something up and she returned just as Yamaguchi was done packing up his things. She sat down next to him on the sofa and smiled, this time a mellow, evening bloom instead of the bright morning glory.

          She handed him a white envelope. “Your pay for today!” she said chirpily.

          Yamaguchi accepted the payment and, with Yachi’s permission, opened the letter. Inside was an amount so large that he closed the flap right after. Yachi frowned at his reaction.

          The amount was way more than what he had expected. They hadn’t discussed the tutoring fees yet but it was too much for Yamaguchi to accept from just two hours. “I can’t have them, Yachi, this is too much for me. I didn’t do anything at all,” he tried to return the letter to Yachi but she shook her head and pushed it back to him. “Yachi—”

          “You can take it,” she assured him. “For you to take up that part-time job… I don’t know how much you owe the landlord, but I still don’t agree with you doing it just to get the money.”

          “But still…”

          “Yamaguchi, I want to help you as a friend. You know that you can come to me if you have any problems, right?”

          When Yamaguchi met her gaze, he was surprised to hear his heartbeats in his ears, loud as thunder and fast as light. It was nearing sunset and the sun was angled in a way that its orange shimmer streamed into the room from a window behind her. It highlighted her features so perfectly, as if she’d been drawn on a canvas with acrylic paint. _A flower of paradise_ , he thought to himself, so stunning and breathtaking, with features that no other species possessed.

          He turned away, hands tight on the envelope. “You’re too kind, Yachi,” he mumbled, embarrassed by his own intrusive thoughts. “Thank you.”

          Yachi’s smile widened and she nodded. “You’re welcome.”

          “But I’d like to do something in exchange for this much of money. What is there that I can do for you?”

          She blinked at him, then mulled over the question for a bit of time. “Hmm, it’s not you doing it for me, but rather you doing it for yourself. I want you to try becoming the committee member of the library.”

          “The library…?”

          “Yes! Since you like books and you used to read them in there, you can be part of the team that looks after them. I heard that they even pay you if you do a really good job, like helping the staff to type in new book entries or buying them coffee.”

          Yamaguchi nodded slowly to himself. So much time spent in the library and he wasn’t aware that it held such a great job opportunity. “That’s interesting.” Turning to Yachi, he told her in resolution, “I’ll try it out for you.”

          Yachi’s back to her original morning glory smile and the three stars clipped to her hair glittered as she nodded.

          The day after the first tutoring session, Yamaguchi applied for the library committee team and quickly climbed to become the top member within a few weeks. What Yachi said was true – they do pay the members who do their jobs well. Yamaguchi managed to cover the costs of the delayed payments and the remaining money left was spent on a hotpot dinner. His parents wanted to know where he got the cash and he told them he’d been tutoring the kids of a rich bloke, which wasn’t a lie but it was an exaggeration necessary to make sense of the money situation.

          He still came to tutor Yachi’s nephews in her house, as usual, with Hinata present on certain days. On that particular day, Yachi had to head home early so Yamaguchi couldn’t carpool to her house, and there were no transports that would enter the high residential area, so he’d walked his way there, relying on his heightened memory. As he was reaching Yachi's house, he heard a loud scream. It’s strange, because it was a peaceful neighborhood with nice elderly people and lots of greeneries, not a place anyone would think of negatively. Still, the scream was so peculiar that Yamaguchi hid behind a stone pillar when it got louder, fearing that it’s something bad.

          Anxiously, he peeked from behind the pillar. It was Madam Yachi and… Yachi. The mother was dragging her daughter by the arm with a vice grip, yanking her forward towards the car that’s waiting for them on the driveway. Yamaguchi’s feet were rooted to the ground, his blood cold when Yachi’s eyes found his amidst the chaos. She looked so terrified, her eyes begging for help, but he couldn’t do anything. What _can_ he do? He didn’t even know what was going on – Yachi never told him and she probably wouldn't – and the most he would end up doing was barging in on a familial dispute. He wouldn’t be helping Yachi at that point, even though she’d helped him so much despite knowing so little.

          Yachi shrieked at her mother to let her go, to stop doing this, but her mother refused to listen and pushed her into the car before getting in as well. The car started to move and Yamaguchi pressed against the pillar, hoping they don’t see him as it drove pass. Once it’s far away, he stepped out onto the main road and watched it shrink in the distance. What just happened? He’s never seen Yachi so hysterical before. And where were they going that she was violently disapproving of it against her mother?

          Yamaguchi’s answers came from Shimizu’s vague _she’s a little sick at the moment_. Yachi had to stay at the hospital for a few days and the parlor was significantly quiet. Shimizu was already showing up so little that there was little incentive for the four of them to be in the parlor. Yamaguchi eventually retreated to the library to do his work, since he figured that they’re not going to get along so well in the absence of the president.

          When he did decide to go back to the parlor, he found Yachi sitting on the park bench by the entrance, overlooking the students playing catch and some others sitting on picnic mats laid over grasses.

          “Yachi?” he called out to her softly. “Are you okay?”

          Yachi didn’t respond. She remained unspeaking and Yamaguchi went to sit next to her.

          “Yachi?” he tried again. He was about to touch her shoulder gently but stopped when she said, “Is there someone you want to kill?”

          Yamaguchi froze. Had he heard her right?

          “Have you ever thought of killing someone because of what they did, who they are, and how they treated you?” Yachi then turned to look at Yamaguchi and there was nothing warm in her eyes. They were sombre and hollowed out, threatening to break at any given moment from their fragility. “I have.”

          Yamaguchi’s hand fell and landed on the bench to steady himself. He did hear her right, which didn't help with the growing unease in him. Something must’ve happened from the day her mother dragged her somewhere up to the days she was recovering in the hospital. Something very drastic and traumatizing, it seemed, given the way it had changed Yachi.

          “My mom has another child… with another man who’s not my dad,” Yachi revealed. Her shoulders drooped and her hands found each other on her lap.

          Yamaguchi stared at them as she continued, “I had my suspicions when she didn’t have any objections towards my request of letting Hinata sleep over for one night. She could've let him sleep in the spare guest room, since she never lets anyone in but the maid on the second floor, but I thought that since she’d known him for a while, she didn’t mind.”

          Yamaguchi nodded to show that he’s listening, his mind reeling back to when he first saw Hinata in their house, casual and nonchalant in short pants and informally speaking to Madam Yachi. Hinata, the ace volleyball player who’s afraid of Kageyama’s kicks and easily intimidated by Tsukishima’s height, unperturbed in the house of the academy’s director. Yamaguchi understood why Yachi grew suspicious of them.

          “Then I found something in my mother’s office.” Yachi pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket, which she gave to Yamaguchi.

          He took it, knowing that this was an extremely invasive act, but it hurt Yachi so much that he was persuaded to read it.

          “It was a gift. The Crows tracksuit. She got it for him, wrote down explicitly _my child_ on the paper because she figured it’s time to tell him the truth.” Yachi breathed out an empty laugh, which hit Yamaguchi on the chest so hard at how sad she sounded. “She would never get me anything so pricey, yet here we are.”

          Yamaguchi recalled the tracksuit which got him closer to Hinata as fellow volleyball players – the shiny black polyester, the hand-knitted Crows initial on the left breast. How Hinata was so proud of it and wore it nearly every day he was in the parlor. Yamaguchi didn’t want to think of how long Yachi had known about it, and how long she had to endure knowing that it was because her own mother favored Hinata.

          He didn’t want to upset her further but it was better to get everything out of her system in one go rather than have some of them bottled up. “What else do you know?” he asked.

          “I mentioned about his coach being a close friend with of my mom, right?”

          Yamaguchi nodded, then realized. “Is he…?”

          Yachi nodded this time. “That’s why Hinata’s here instead of attending some campus closer to where he lives in the mountains. My mom had him with his coach, a guy named Ukai, before she got married to my dad who'd been outstation for a year. To keep it a secret, he was entrusted to Ukai and raised to believe that he was adopted, until Ukai fell sick two years ago and couldn’t look after him anymore.”

          “So he’s passing Hinata to your mom.”

          “Most likely,” she shrugged.

          Yamaguchi was still at a lost – the convenience of all the different points that made for the revelation in Madam Yachi’s infidelity. He had so many things to process but it’s not him who’s gotten the short end of the stick. He just hoped that Yachi will get a closure with her mother and Hinata.

          Days have passed since, and Yachi looked even worse than before. Her usual smile was gone and she had such little energy that she uttered not a single word during their meeting for the annual sports festival. Hinata was exuberant as always, and the others were acting like their usual old selves – even Shimizu was there – but Yachi remained glum.

          Then, the sports festival arrived. The day that Yamaguchi could never forget.

          “Have you seen Yachi?” Yamaguchi asked Tsukishima as they stood on the sidelines while the next relay was being prepared. Hinata and Kageyama were partaking in the race and the club members where there to cheer for them, except the girls were missing. “She’s nowhere to be found since the intermission. And Shimizu?”

          “They were heading to the toilet, but Shimizu was asked by her friend to help with the decorations,” Tsukishima told him, visibly uncomfortable due to the large and rowdy crowd.

          “Hasn’t she been gone for too long, though?”

          Tsukishima nodded. “I think so too. It’s best you go look for her.”

          “And you, Tsukishima?”

          He turned with a mischievous grin. “I’m going to stick around and make them both lose.”

          Yamaguchi huffed but chuckled. “You’re such a chaotic neutral. I’ll see you later.”

          “Yeah.”

          Yamaguchi set off to search for Yachi, which didn’t take a long time because he found her on the other end of the sidelines, staring into the distance, probably anticipating the race as well.

          “Yachi, let’s join Tsukishima…” he trailed off when he noticed Yachi’s stone-cold expression. He turned to where she was looking and saw the director sitting on the previously empty chair under the shades, where the authoritative people of the academy were to be as the games were being held.

          He turned back to Yachi, who was still staring at her mother in disdain. He could see her eyes getting glassier and her lips trembling, and he was about to freak our when her voice cracked as she stated the obvious, “She wasn’t there for my race, but she is here for Hinata’s.”

          At the first sign of a smile on her face, a sympathetic smile that Yamaguchi never wanted to see on her, he took Yachi’s wrist and ran, pulling her with him. He wasn’t going to stand by idly and watch Yachi break down completely at the unfairness of the truth – that Yachi’s own mother would prefer Hinata over her.

          He had not a clue of where he was running to, as he was focused on getting Yachi away from the painful sight. They were in a classroom before he knew it and panting heavily.

          “Yamaguchi…” Yachi began but couldn’t finish because he had wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

          “I can’t stand to see that,” Yamaguchi blurted out, his voice shaky from the running and their close proximity. “I can’t stand to see you witness something so painful.” When he came to his senses, he realized that he must’ve scared her with whatever stunt he'd pulled and so he stepped away from her, keeping a safe distance. His face and neck began to heat up profusely and it’s so bad he couldn’t bring himself to face her. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!” he stuttered.

          Yachi stared at him, just as stunned as he was, but she broke into a fit of giggles. “You’re such a guy,” she said, smiling the mellow evening flower smile. “But you’re very kind.”

          Yamaguchi stared down at his shoes, mentally chastising himself for doing something so reckless. Then, he felt something being laid around his neck and he lifted his gaze. Yachi had put a necklace on him and she smiled when he touched the pendant. A single black feather. “Huh?”

          “It’s my necklace,” she said to him. “I want you to have it. As a sign of friendship.”

          “Friendship…?”

          “Yes. And I want you to wear it all the time."

          Yamaguchi absently touched the feather again, marveling at the glossiness of the surface and the reflective shine it had. So beautiful, and Yachi was giving it to him?

          “You remind me of the stars, Yamaguchi,” Yachi whispered. “I can be anywhere and still find you, and you're so calming to be around.”

          “And you remind me of flowers. Colorful, bright, beautiful. People like you so much and… I like you too. You’re precious, you know that?”

          Yamaguchi wasn’t planning to look at her but he did, and he was glad to because Yachi smiled up at him radiantly. “I’m thankful that you are by my side, Yamaguchi,” she said to him, her hands touching his and intertwining. “When you wear his necklace, think of me always.”

          And then, the unexpected – she kissed him on the cheek, gently and lightly, like the feather pendant that now hung around his neck. “Always wear it for me.”

 

[ Epilogue ]

 

Where Yachi Hitoka’s body laid in the middle of the flowerbed, she had a feather gripped tight in her hand. A black feather, belonging to a bird of a scavenging nature, similar to the one on Yamaguchi’s necklace. A crow’s feather, something that can be commonly found in the campus due to the murders of crows that tend to gather around. She must’ve held it there to her chest in order to represent her killer and wished for Yamaguchi to find him should anything happen to her.

          And the killer was none other than the one with the tracksuit from Crows.

 

[ Fin ]

 

Yamaguchi caught his breath and stared at the empty half of his manuscript. He was done reading and so he glanced up at the others who had been listening the whole time.

          Hinata, whose shirt was stained, fidgeted nervously, but he was the first to applaud. Then, the others followed suit without much intention.

          Shimizu smiled at their participation. “The story really suits you, Yamaguchi, considering that you are an avid reader of many genres,” she said to him. “I could put myself in your shoes and relive the events through your eyes. Truly a storyteller worth the scholarship.”

          Yamaguchi made no move to acknowledge her, averting his eyes so he only saw the shadows casted all over the room. The manuscript shook in his hands, which was only obvious to Shimizu. “Thank you for that, Yamaguchi. Please return to your seat."

          As he put his manuscript on the podium and headed back to the table, Shimizu thought aloud to herself, “A crow’s feather… That’s quite an interesting relation she'd done. Hinata’s definitely an ambassador for Crows now.”

          At the mention of his name, Hinata squirmed. He’d taken off the stained shirt and was left with an undershirt, so he’d used the track jacket to fend off the cold. He pulled nervously at the hem of the polyester fabric and tried to shrink into it.

          Shimizu waited until Yamaguchi had settled down on his seat before calling on the next reader. “Kageyama Tobio, it’s your time to tell.”

          Kageyama wordlessly stood and went for the podium without delay. He took his manuscript and fixed the unlined edges to calm the nauseous feeling in his stomach. His eyes dared not stray out of the paper’s dimensions and he sighed, beginning without preamble.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next is Kageyama Tobio whose a little bit more difficult to write but precisely because of that, it was also interesting for me to write his part. I'm not sure if I made his narrative as distinctly different from Yamaguchi's, but I hope it's got a different sorta vibe, cause all their parts are meant to be different in style.
> 
> Anyways, enough dawdling and let's get right to it!

* * *

[ Making macarons. ]

by Kageyama Tobio

 

Kageyama, from a young age, had been exposed to numerous culinary elements due to his upbringing – French cuisine, Taiwan street foods, English breakfasts, Chinese takeouts, and many more. He grew up professionally with cooking as a hobby and volleyball as a passion, but in haste of getting a worthwhile career, he had chosen to focus on food over sports. Kageyama’s ambitions expanded fruitfully and he was lucky to be able to foster his talents in both fields.

          When he turned eighteen, however, his first heartbreak happened not from a breakup, but from hearing with his own two ears that Oikawa Tooru was going to inherit the family restaurant. It was almost a betrayal to him because he was sure he was the rightful heir and not the other, even though it was Kageyama who was adopted into the Oikawa family. Tooru was anything but serious about the family restaurant as he was more invested in chasing hearts rather than warming stomachs.

          It left a sour aftertaste in his mouth for days that he rarely went home after classes, choosing to linger around cafes and diners instead to focus on the creation of his own western-style desserts shop.

          Upon admittance to Miyagi Central, Kageyama came to the conclusion that he disliked Yachi Hitoka. Or, to be more specific, he hated her. It wasn’t anything personal; he just didn’t like social butterflies, especially when everyone seemed to get along with them so well, like puzzle pieces meant to fit during the first match. Perhaps he’d projected Tooru’s personality onto her by mistake, and refused to correct his first impressions.

          Not like he needed to, anyway, because he’s not going to cross paths with Yachi Hitoka. Or so he thought.

          Although excellent in the food and sports industries, Kageyama was never going to survive in the real world with a head like his. He stared at his economics paper with heavy eyes, glowering so hard that he might as well be burning holes into it.

          His gaze was fixated on the percentage at the top of the paper. Sixty-eight. He thought he’d failed, considering how bad he’d done during the test but also because this _was_ an economics paper, but he’ll gladly take it. It’s better than a forty-eight that would’ve landed him on a make-good test, which the guy sitting next to him had taken and luckily passed with fifty-one.

          “Yo, that’s one point away from sixty-nine,” he cackled, smacking the table like it was the funniest joke he’s ever said. The lecturer shushed him and he hid his face behind his paper. Nudging Kageyama, he added, “Don’t worry – at least you don’t have to do the test again.”

          Sure, that was the most reassuring part, but Kageyama can’t help thinking how a second-year student was only now retaking a first-year paper.

          “Bad performance, Kageyama,” the lecturer said to him when he came over to his desk, shaking his head. “You should take more time revising what you’ve learned. The questions are straightforward but you can’t answer them because you don’t know the fundamentals.” To the other guy, he sighed, “Terushima, at the very least you passed, even though you did it later than required. It’s a good thing you learned something from her.”

          “Yeah, a good thing,” Terushima grinned.

          The lecturer turned back to Kageyama. “I’m assigning you to a personal instructor. Make sure to actually learn something from her.”

          He would’ve been fine with the sixty-eight and he would’ve been fine with actually learning something from his personal instructor, but he wasn’t fine when it turned out to be none other than Yachi Hitoka.

          She offered a hand after the lecturer left them together in the corridor. Kageyama felt more unnerved in the presence of the other students, staring wide-eyed at them because of Yachi and probably wondering why she’s trying to make friends with a mean-looking guy like him.

          “Nice to meet you, Kageyama! I’m Yachi Hitoka and I’ll be your personal instructor as of today!” she chirped, still holding out a hand.

          Kageyama took it before things for more awkward between them. “Nice to meet you too,” he replied, but not completely meaning it.

          “You did well for someone who’s never learned economics before,” she said, smile unfaltering. “You know what to do but you don’t know for what. I think that’s why you didn’t get the full marks.”

          “Right…”

        “Shall we head somewhere to get started, then? Ah, how about the Literature Club parlor? It’s quiet and not vacated by the other members at the moment, and I’ve made tea and cake too!”

          Normally, Kageyama would’ve tuned out anything after the first sentence, but his attention swam back to consciousness when he heard the phrase _I’ve made tea and cake too_. He looked at her in muted interest. “You ‘made’ cake? Is there a kitchen there?”

          Yachi only smiled, which sufficed as an answer.

          To the right of the parlor upon entrance, there was a door that opened to a large kitchen. It was not as complete or elegant as the one back home, but it was something Kageyama could get on with as starters. In fact, it was his dream kitchen – it was minimalistic, filled with wall-mounted shelves and smooth marble counters, and fully equipped with the most complete set of kitchen tools that Kageyama's ever seen. It was the kind of kitchen that he would want to have when he opens his own desserts shop, beating Tooru fair and square.

          He didn’t realize that he’d blurted them out and Yachi had been there to listen to everything, so it wasn’t possible to evade the questions that came after. Though, for reasons unknown, he didn’t feel burdened about exposing a little about himself at all.

          It should well be the infatuation Kageyama had over the parlor’s kitchen that prompted him to share with Yachi of his aspiration. He told her about his dreams of opening a desserts shop, showing her his sketchbook filled with pastel illustrations of sweets and pastries and little details about them. Yachi’s contagious enthusiasm encouraged him to continue talking that Kageyama didn’t feel silly about raving on and on about each of them. Eventually, he found himself enjoying her company and came to understand why people liked her. She was kind and friendly, always supportive of others, and just like that, Kageyama came to like her too.

          Later that evening, he was on his way home after the not-so economics studying session with Yachi when he noticed a commotion down the street. There were people running in the direction of his residency and they appeared slightly distressed or horrified, otherwise both. It wasn’t until a heavy weight settle in Kageyama’s gut that he made a run for it.

          His heart pounded triple the steps he took and his breathing got increasingly louder as he got closer. There was a throng standing outside his house, but what caught him by the throat was the bright orange light dancing in the hue of the evening sky.

          “Excuse me! Excuse me!” he pushed through the bustling onlookers, praying that the worst case scenario was only a worst case scenario and not a reality. But as he got closer to the front of the crowd, held back by a number of police officers, Kageyama’s eyes were only filled with the raging fire before him.

          His ears rang from the shock and he was momentarily frozen. The voices of the people around him muffled into white noise and all Kageyama could see was the fire engulfing all of the largest Oikawa family restaurant in Miyagi and next to it, what wouldn’t remain of his house. Firefighters were only arriving and they had to shove aside some people to make way for the large hose, spraying at the long wrecked infrastructures.

          Once he’s processed what was currently happening, Kageyama went slack and sank to the ground, where he could only watch helplessly as everything went up in flames. Fortunately, his family and the people who worked in the restaurant and the household were unharmed, because the fire was started when nobody was around. That meant that the source of fire was not from the kitchen, so there was a culprit behind the arson.

          Traumatized from the incident, Yachi sat down with him the next day and asked if he needed any help.

          Kageyama would have never thought that he was grateful to have Yachi as a friend several days prior, but he was grateful and did need help from her. “Can I join the Literature Club? It’s kind of a selfish request because I’m not interested in stories at all, but…”

          “It’s the kitchen, isn’t it?”

          Kageyama felt his cheeks heat up. “Yes,” he nodded meekly.

          “Of course!” came the reply.

          Yachi was smiling when he looked up to her. She was so kind as to just simply let him join for the kitchen, that he knew he had been wrong to have hated her for no reason. It was all thanks to Yachi that he was able to improve his cooking, and it felt like he was already living his dream. As the number of members in the club grew, Kageyama got better at making his sweets and pastries. By then, there were six members including him in total, and he was getting more used to making larger servings.

          “Today’s menu of the day is strawberry parfait,” Kageyama carefully placed the tray on the coffee table, distributing the glasses of dessert that came in layers. “It took me forever to get them in line, by the way. I thought I was going to break the glasses myself and make scrambled parfait instead.”

          “Sure, you did,” Tsukishima mused. “You could still make some cherries pop even with a sloppy job on these.”

          “Stop trying to get me laid. Look after yourself first before helping others.”

          “Oh, I’m grand. I don’t need to worry cause I’m a natural.”

          Hinata made a face behind his glass and Yamaguchi choked on his first spoonful. The two girls stifled their laughter behind a hand while the two feuding parties glared at each other.

          After the meeting was over, Kageyama returned to the kitchen as per usual. This time, he was attempting to make macarons when Yachi came in.

          “Oh, hey there,” he greeted, grunting a little from the deliberately slow whisking of the batter. “Did you try it? The parfait. You gave your profiteroles to Yamaguchi last time even though I specially gave you your portion.”

          Yachi only offered a small smile, which Kageyama saw a glimpse of briefly before he focused on the batter. “I didn’t know he became a tutor at your house,” he continued. “Must be nice, earning some pocket money just by being smart. Maybe I should consider joining? I’d rather him than Tsukishima, really.” Kageyama scoffed good-naturedly but paused when Yachi didn’t respond. “Yachi?”

          She wasn’t looking at him nor was she looking fine. Her back was hunched over and her hair hung around her face like a curtain, a behavior which Kageyama sensed to be peculiar, coming from her.

          “To be honest, I didn’t want him to do it.”

          Kageyama blinked. “Who? Yamaguchi tutoring?”

          Yachi nodded. “I’d refused plenty of times but he insisted on tutoring my nephews. I felt bad, since he’s tight on cash too, so I let him do it. I even made sure to pay him.”

          Kageyama didn’t dare interject her. Her silence hung heavily in the air and he was afraid of what’s gotten her acting out of ordinary.

          “It’s just that… he’s been touching me more than usual,” she slowly turned to face Kageyama. The state of which her eyes were in sent shivers down his spine, as if they were one sentient being, scared and powerless against injustice.

          The words were out of his mouth before he knew it, “Are you saying he’s a molester?”

          “No!” Yachi denied vigorously, which didn’t convince Kageyama but did reduce the tension growing in the kitchen. “I wanted to help because he had some financial problems, but he must’ve misunderstood it as something else. He’s not a bad person so please don’t blame him.”

          Kageyama narrowed his eyes at her reassurance but it was not his position to make conclusions. He started to nod understandingly. “Well, if you insist,” he told her and she smiled in gratitude. Kageyama smiled back before he was back to the batter in his slackened grip.

          “What are you doing?” Yachi changed the subject.

          Kageyama didn’t bother hiding the grin that appeared on his face. “Macaronage. It’s a technique to make sure the dough won’t be too fluffy.”

          “And how do you do that?”

          “You have to make sure the foams all burst.”

          “Ooh.” A beat of silence, then, “Can I try it?”

          Kageyama glanced up and nodded. “Yeah,” he held the spatula up and waited for Yachi to come around the counter.

          She began to whisk like he had while Kageyama watched. But she was too fast and made too large circles, that Kageyama innately went to correct her. “You have to do it slowly, like this,” he instructed, standing behind her to guide her hands.

          If Yachi was affected by the sudden quasi-backhug, she didn’t show it. In fact, she was more at ease now that Kageyama was helping her in what should’ve been an easy thing to do but was not at all. Kageyama wasn’t even aware that he was much closer to her than he’d ever like to be, until he started to notice how small and warm Yachi’s hands were, completely wrapped over by his larger ones, and how tiny she was, standing before him that she’s nearly pressed against him.

          He pulled away speedily at the realization, hands raised as if surrendering before he let them hang on his either sides. “Sorry,” he muttered.

          In situations like this, the natural outcome was for things to become awkward between the two of them again and Kageyama was terrified that he’d just ruined things with Yachi, but her natural instinct was to smile. Kageyama never thought he could adore someone’s smile so much until he saw hers. His heart slammed a little harder in his chest than the usual slamming he was accustomed to.

          “You’re cute, for someone quite serious,” Yachi said cheerfully, eyes squeezed into mirthful curves. “You’re like an older brother I never had.”

          Panicking from the ambush combination that was her smile and incoming comment, Kageyama ended up recycling her words for reciprocation. “You’re kind of childish, for someone so responsible. Like a younger sister I never had.”

          That only made Yachi smile wider, which worsened Kageyama’s heart slamming. She’s practically lighting up the entire kitchen and he didn’t understand how he could be standing so close to her without getting blinded. “I might be,” she winked, and he swore he felt his heart skipped a beat in tandem to that. “But that’s surprisingly hard to do. Just to burst some foam.”

          “Yeah, it is. If you’re not careful, your hand will start to cramp.”

          “I guess it takes an expert to execute is so effortlessly,” she added, and he blushed from her praise, something he never does, but Yachi was adept at creating miracles.

          The day of the sports festival was hectic, leaving all the club members occupied with their own parts in the event. Kageyama wasn’t as worried about Yamaguchi trying anything funny with Yachi, and he poured all his attention into the competitions he was partaking. His team won over Hinata’s by a narrow distance and he grinned victoriously when Hinata glared at him. His cheeks were flushed and his heart kept pounding from the adrenaline, which he relished in. It had been too long since he was last this physically active and he loved every second of it spent with his teammates.

          He’d joined Tsukishima on the sidelines, who was teasing Hinata for having shorter legs, but Yachi was nowhere to found. Not even Shimizu, and most suspiciously Yamaguchi. When he asked Tsukishima, he told him that Yamaguchi had gone to get Yachi, but hadn’t returned since long before the race began. Kageyama didn’t want to think that something bad must’ve happened, because he would’ve felt guilty about not being able to protect Yachi.

          So he went to look for her, in the possible toilets that she could’ve possibly gone to. Knowing how deep inside the buildings the toilets were, Kageyama feared that Yamaguchi had cornered her, but seeing the constant flow of people wherever he went, he was relieved from that dreadful thought.

          Unfortunately, as he turned a corner, he saw the two of them walking down the corridor from a classroom at the furthest end. They were talking, clearly happy and not at all tense, and Kageyama reprieved the desire to sock Yamaguchi in the gut. Though, he won’t deny that an uneasy pit had dug itself in his stomach, especially because he sensed something different about Yamaguchi's demeanor but he didn’t know what.

          “Oh, hey Kageyama!” Yamaguchi waved at him. “I heard you won the race. How’s Hinata doing?”

          Skeptical as he may be, Kageyama wasn’t about to blatantly point fingers at the guy. Dismissing what negative thoughts he’d garnered, he walked towards them. “Butthurt, as usual,” he shrugged. “Where were you two? Skipping out on all the fun. Tsukishima’s probably destroying Hinata as we’re speaking, you know.”

          “I hope he’s not too hard on himself,” Yachi said with a laugh. “I’m sure he did his best. And you too, Kageyama! Congratulations on your win!”

          Momentarily, he forgot about Yamaguchi and was attracted to Yachi’s irresistible charms. It’s a good thing his cheeks were already red to begin with and he was still breathing heavily from the running, because he was definitely head over heels for her. “Yeah, thanks,” he exhaled breathlessly, forcing himself to be as nonchalant about it.

          “Well, I’m heading out for my treasure hunt,” Yamaguchi said, patting them both on the shoulder. His hand on Yachi’s lingered a second longer, which Kageyama didn’t miss. “I hope you two will be there, cause I’ll be winning the grand prize for all of us to share.”

          When Yamaguchi jogged off, Kageyama pulled Yachi to the side and made sure nobody was around to potentially eavesdrop them. “Did he do anything?” he asked concernedly, inspecting her for any signs of abuse.

          Yachi smiled up at him and she rubbed his arm in reassurance. “It’s okay, nothing happened between us,” she said. “We were only discussing about my nephews and if he still wanted to continue tutoring them, since he already has a job in the library.”

         Kageyama finally relaxed when he found nothing and placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing slightly. “I should come whenever he does, so he wouldn’t dare to touch you.”

          “No, it won’t do anything, Kageyama.”

          “But still!” The sudden shout startled the both of them, and Kageyama cleared his throat. “You’re left alone with him whenever he comes over. That’s way too risky.”

          To his disappointment, Yachi shook her head no. “It wouldn’t help,” she said, and Kageyama felt defeated even though he’d won a gold medal earlier.

          She was too forgiving in nature to protect herself from the danger that others pose, choosing their wellbeing over hers. More than just a kind and caring person, Yachi would willingly hurt herself to befriend other people and make them happy. A method awfully similar to macaronage, and a method Kageyama never expected to have destroyed her in the end.

          The evening of the next day, he found her sitting alone in the parlor, shrouded in darkness save for the table lamp on the study table, where she was overlooking some papers. Yachi was behaving even more unusual this time, not looking up to greet Kageyama, probably not even realizing that Kageyama had entered the room.

          “Yachi? You good?” he softly spoke to not scare her.

          No reaction. She shifted a little on the chair, eyelashes flitting about while her eyes stuck themselves on the papers before her, when she suddenly stood and turned to the window behind.

          “Yachi…?”

          “Although I forgive him for his risqué attitude, I can’t allow him to accept that as payment and refuse my money!”

          Kageyama’s ears rang as if he’d been shot in there with a taser. Blood rushed from all of his body and surged up into his brain, where a minute ago he’d be subliminally distracted by the orange glow in the room but was now only looking at the parlor as if it went up in flames.

          “Let’s report to the police, Yachi,” Kageyama insisted, unknowingly approaching the table and slamming his hands down on it. “He’s stepped over the line and committing a crime. Sexual harassment isn’t taken lightly anymore.”

          Yachi’s reaction came in a snap this time. “Wait, you’ve got it all wrong, Kageyama. Yamaguchi didn’t try to coerce me into an intercourse.”

          “Then what did he do that it’s worse than what he’s been doing?”

          She bit her lip and averted her gaze. Kageyama’s heart was crushed at his incompetence in helping Yachi. He wasn’t the best at getting along with people, and even then, he still thought that he and Tsukishima could’ve been on better terms than their usual banters, but the new club member was bolder than he’d thought, being a scholarship holder and all. Yamaguchi Tadashi is an intellectual; maybe he’s got too many things in his head that he starts getting bigger ideas.

          “He said that if I don’t want to go any further, he would need to take something of mine as payment, but…” Yachi paused, breathing shakily. “I’d rather anything but the necklace that I’ve always worn. It was a gift from an old friend that I treasure a lot!”

          Just then, Kageyama had a recollection to Yamaguchi when he found them after his relay race, and he realized that it was the sudden presence of a necklace that stood out against the white of his shirt. A black feather hung loosely from it, like that of a crow’s.

          “Is it the necklace? With the crow’s feather?”

          Yachi nodded reluctantly. “He saw that I was always wearing it and demanded I give it to him, if I don’t want him to keep touching me.”

          “Yachi, this is a serious problem. Come on, the police can help us.”

          But she was immovable as a statue when he took her wrist. She brushed him away and shook her head. “That won’t be necessary, Kageyama.”

          He didn’t understand. “What? Why?”

          “I’m writing a letter to him.”

          “A letter…?”

          Yachi nodded. The hopeful glance she gave him coaxed him to release the tensions building up in his body, though his head continued to pound from the mass uproar of his emotions. He then turned to the papers on the study table and a quill pen lying nearby. A handwritten letter for Yamaguchi, who didn’t even deserve it. Kageyama let out an indignant scoff, which passed as an exhale for Yachi.

          “I’m writing to ask him to meet me on the rooftop tomorrow, so we could talk things out,” she continued, smiling small. “If I confront him honestly, then he will be honest to me too. That is better than going to the police and having more problems between us, don’t you think?”

          Kageyama wasn’t on the same boat as her. He knew that Yamaguchi was intelligent but he never would’ve expected that he was an evil genius. Then again, Kageyama was only an outsider, a confidant of the victim. He’s not directly involved in the issue and he was not fully informed of the story from the other side, so he wasn’t going to attempt to play judge. Besides, since Yachi was so keen on confronting Yamaguchi, Kageyama could do nothing more but to support her.

          “If you need any help from me,” he said defeatedly, “you know you can just ask.”

          Yachi’s smile after his declaration was also unusual of her, even though she was habitually smiling. It was too slow and too curved at the ends, and it didn’t reach her eyes. In the warmth of the table lamp’s light, Kageyama should’ve deduced that there was no good outcome to her issue with Yamaguchi, but alas, he had no active role to play in it. Kageyama was only just starting to learn how to willingly be around people, learning to help others and learning to give more than take, and he paid the price of being too late.

 

[ Epilogue ]

 

_“Why was I so naïve back then?”_

          That was the message which Kageyama was sure Yachi had wanted to convey to him. The evidence lay in the very item she was holding onto even after she’s long gone. Black, like the heart of the perpetrator. Light, like the weight of the grudge she held against him. A crow’s feather similar to her own missing precious gift served as her will to forgive the perpetrator even in her death.

 

[ Fin ]

 

The thunderstorm outside the parlor ceased to end as it lit the room every now and then, filling up the silence that washed over when Kageyama’s story was over.

          Shimizu stood from the chair behind the study table and took along with her the candle. “Thank you very much, Kageyama,” she smiled at him. “I had no idea that you were well-taught in writing just as you are in cooking and volleyball. And the choice of your words… such objective choices that you’ve used.”

          Kageyama had his eyes stably fixated on hers but it would be an overstatement to say that he was unperturbed by Shimizu’s smile.

          “Feelings you didn’t know existed become real once they’re viewed at objectively. And before you know it, you’re overwhelmed by how much you’ve been feeling.” Shimizu paused, turning to the other members. “There was a part in this story that contradicts that of the previous story.”

          Thunder cracked mutedly and illuminated the table just long enough for the crow’s feather to be seen. Yamaguchi touched it subconsciously, brushing the soft bristles against the pads of his fingers.

          “Well then, whose turn is it?” Shimizu smiled around at the remaining two members.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're halfway through, though I doubt the epilogue will be any shorter than their individual stories, but I can say that it's been a ride writing them all like this, you know, like playing with perspectives and changing the original story a little. Like butterfly effect except it's affected by individual choices and their cognitions. Anyways, I hope I've done a decent job in writing their parts as different as possible, cause boy this sure is exhausting!
> 
> But it's been super fun, and I hope it's the same for you readers too!

* * *

[ Firefly ]

by Tsukishima Kei

 

When Tsukishima was younger, his mother used to tell him stories of magical creatures and supernatural beings. Knowing that he loved dinosaurs after his older brother had introduced them to him, she was sure he would also love her picture books about fairies, dwarves and elves. Tsukishima loved all of her stories, but he was particularly fond of one, called _Hotaru_ , which was a kanji reading for ‘firefly’. Coincidentally, his given name was also another kanji reading for ‘firefly’, which might’ve explained why he liked it so much.

          But it wasn’t that at all. What Tsukishima liked most about _Hotaru_ was the main character, a light spirit that goes by the same name. They carried a lantern filled with orange fireflies and guided lost children back to the main road that would lead to their homes. Hotaru was always smiling and they were amiable, always kind to others and loving children unconditionally. Tsukishima liked that, because he knew that if Hotaru was real, they would forgive Tsukishima no matter how often he broke his brother’s dinosaur toys and how easily he threw tantrums at his mother.

          Then, one night at a party, he found her. In flesh and blood, alive and animated. Hotaru was real, but not in the form Tsukishima expected them to. This Hotaru came in the form of a petite young girl with a short blonde bob and a lace dress the color of honey, but what really caught his attention was her smile. It was how Tsukishima envisioned Hotaru's smile, large and crinkly and sweeter than syrup. It was like the manifestation of a firefly’s bioluminescence, and with the way she carried herself, going from people to people for conversations with a little skip in her steps, she seemed like a spirit.

          What struck as reality to him was that this Hotaru was not at all perfect, because she wasn’t a spirit that guides lost children but also because if she was one, she wouldn’t be the type to entertain the likes of a detestable young man. Taking into consideration the young man's bleached hairstyle and the piercings, Tsukishima knew that was someone who could harm her. He knew that her kind smiles would land her into troubles with him, so he decided it’s better to take action than hear the tragedy after.

          “Hey, do you mind if I speak to her in private?” he asked when he approached them.

          The young man squinted at him before glancing at her. “Huh? Can’t you speak to her here?”

          “It’s confidential and urgent.”

          To his surprise, the young man quickly gave in and walked away, which was great, because Tsukishima actually had no plans when he came over to where they were to help out the poor girl. Standing closer to her now, he’s shocked by how much tinier she was, the top of her head barely reaching his shoulders.

          “You okay?” he asked her.

          She turned and flashed a smile at him. “Yes. And thank you!” she said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if he kept bugging me. I know that he’s the son of someone influential here, so I didn’t want to sound rude.”

        “You need to speak up sometimes. It’s better than staying quiet and enduring everything.”

          She nodded much too enthusiastically but Tsukishima made no comment. They ended up not speaking for a while, standing at the side of the party and watching other people have a great time, but it was clear to them that they were the only teenagers present. This was the annual dinner gala held by a joint venture of which several large corporations contributed into for the upcoming national volleyball tournament, which neither of them had anything to do with if not for their parents, but it got them to know each other better.

          “Your mom was the person who designed the poster?” Yachi gasped. “That’s so cool! I love that poster the most! My mom had asked me which one I liked and I'd picked that one. The colors and the vibrancy, the energy that it gave off, just everything about it expressed so much about the tournament. She really deserves the position!”

          Tsukishima smiled at her overflowing compliments on his mother, proud to hear of her achievements from other people. “And yours? What does she do?”

          “Oh, my mom’s the person in charge of the graphics department, so that would make her your mom’s boss. That means I’m also your boss.”

          Tsukishima scoffed. Not only was Yachi not like Hotaru; she was too playful to be a benevolent spirit. “You should’ve used that power to get that guy to leave you,” he suggested, crossing his arms. “Threaten him with your position in this room or something.”

          “Judging by that response, I don’t think you have had any experience about the corporate social skills.”

          “You’re right; I don’t.” And it’s true, because if not for the courteous invitation extended by the joint venture for him and his brother to attend the party, Tsukishima would’ve stayed home and tried to rebuild the wooden dinosaur puzzle he’d accidentally demolished before the glue had dried up. He’s never liked being around too many people for a significant amount of time, unlike his mother and brother, who both enjoyed talking and meeting new people.

          “Let’s leave this place,” Yachi said out of the blue, interrupting his train of thoughts.

          He turned to her, confounded. “What?”

          She smiled up at him, radiant and luminous, like Hotaru. “Let’s go somewhere. Just the two of us.”

          Of course, since the party was held in a city of a prefecture that Tsukishima has never been to, he had to rely on Yachi to avoid getting lost. The problem was that, he’s unsure if Yachi even knew where she was going, because half the time they were on the move, she had to stop and determine which direction to take. The night was cool and the place was tranquil, however, and it calmed him for it reminded him of the atmosphere in his own town.

          Eventually, they arrived at a park with a large shallow fountain at the center. Tsukishima was about to sit on a bench, his legs cramped from having walked too long without break, when he saw Yachi kicking off her shoes and starting to pull off her dress.

          “What are you doing?!” he hissed in horror, looking around the bare expanse around the fountain and expecting some guards on night shift to catch them in the action. “We can’t go skinny-dipping here; it’s a public area!”

          Yachi wasn’t listening. By the time Tsukishima looked at her, she was already in the water, her dress strewn on the concrete pavement a few feet away. His ears burned when he saw that she was only clad in a thin layer of undergarment and he immediately averted his eyes, despite the darkness of the park concealing most of her. He was about to warn her of the cold temperature when she splashed him.

          “Are you not coming?” she asked him, giggly and breathy. “The water’s cold but it’s really refreshing!”

          He _was_ concerned about the cold, but with how profusely heated his body got every second, Tsukishima might as well cool himself. Plus, there was that splash that he owed Yachi and he’d rather not sit outside on a windy night in a wet suit. “Just you wait,” he threatened through gritted teeth, loosening his tie and shrugging out of his coat. He threw them into a heap next to Yachi’s dress and stepped into the fountain. It sent an icy trail up his body, but it made him feel more alive than cold. The night was alive as well, but it ended just as abrupt as it arrived.

          When it was time for them to part, Yachi duck into a 24-hour convenience store and came out with a stuffed toy. She gave it to Tsukishima, who took it with a bewildered stare. “What’s this? A crow?”

          “Mm-hmm,” Yachi nodded proudly. “It’s a gift, from me to you. A thank-you gift.”

          He raised a brow. “For what?”

          “For making tonight the best night of my life.”

          Tsukishima was not anticipating the forwardness of her answer and he played off the surprise with a scoff. “You’re such a simpleton. Skinny-dipping was your idea of the best night of your life?”

          “Technically, we didn’t skinny-dip, but still – the fact remains that tonight is the best.”

          Tsukishima nodded. “Okay, suit yourself. But why this?” he raised the stuffed animal.

          “It’s Sendai’s mascot, the crow,” she explained, throwing in an odd imitation of a bird flapping its wings. “Our volleyball team’s name is Karasuno and they’re famous for being the dark horse of tournaments.”

          “Cool.”

          “But also I just wanted to leave you with a souvenir since we won’t be meeting again, though I still do want to meet you in the future,” she told him, softer.

          His heart seized. This gentleness was akin to Hotaru’s but it was not because of the similarity with the spirit that made Tsukishima pause. How could someone be so endearing with a stranger she’d attempted to skinny-dip with after sneaking out of a party? Tsukishima wasn’t going to lie about his feelings after going so far with her, so he said that he wanted to meet her in the future too.

          But he didn’t expect the future to come so soon.

          Being outstanding students, the Tsukishima brothers received an offer letter to become a student of Miyagi Central Academy. But it was only an opportunity for one, so Tsukishima gave it to his older brother, who’s always wanted to attend the elite fine arts institution. Additionally, he wasn’t even interested in moving out of the confines of his town.

          However, it seemed that the elder Tsukishima’s fate had diverged with his decision. While riding his bike downtown to work, he had run into an accident with a large truck turning a sharp corner. The brakes were faulty and he’d sped downhill in acceleration, unable to do anything before he collided with the truck. Fortunately, he wasn’t killed upon impact, but the collision had rendered him bedridden for several months.

          As a result, the opportunity to study in Miyagi Central was given to the younger Tsukishima, who reluctantly took it. He wasn’t prepared to leave his old life so suddenly, not when his brother was stuck in the hospital, but within a week, he had begun his new life as a student there.

          Although Tsukishima was excellent in studying and had no problems with the change in syllabus, he wasn’t the best at adapting to environmental changes. For one, he wasn’t good with people, having the tendency to notice the ugly side of things and sniping at anyone who did try to talk to him. It could be due to the way the people in Sendai were of a different breed from him, following a trend he doesn’t follow and doing things he doesn’t do. There was just a staggeringly tall wall that separated him from the others, but Yachi busted it down so easily.

          “Literature Club?” he echoed in disbelief.

          Yachi nodded eagerly. “Yes! You can hang around there and read all you want. You can even nap there, you know, if you want to skip classes. Oh, you could even teach the two other members who suck in studying!”

          “That’s not what you should be saying if you’re trying to convince me.”

          But Tsukishima joined anyway, because Yachi was the only person he knew and was comfortable being around. And since she’d been so kind to have helped him adjust with the best of her abilities, Tsukishima would want to get used to the new campus and club life too, not just for her sake but for his own. Surely his brother hadn’t miserably given up his chance to study there for Tsukishima to feel sucky.

          He had dismissed the tutoring session with Kageyama and was sitting back after all the strenuous theories, when he noticed a streak of dark patch on his forearm. “Hey, did you get burned on your arm?” he asked, already looking for the most suitable insult in his arsenal after he offers some suggestions for medication.

          “What?” Kageyama scowled at him as usual but his eyes went wide and he turned to the said burn mark on his arm. He slapped a hand over it and shot up from the sofa, shaken by whatever was running through his mind.

          Tsukishima has never seen that kind of reaction from him before and was genuinely worried. “Hey, you okay? Did I hit a nerve?”

          “It’s nothing,” he muttered, fumbling at his sleeves to cover the mark. “You saw nothing.”

          “You don’t have to cover it up.”

          Both of them turned to the voice and there was Yachi, one hand on the handle of the door. She joined them around the seating area and smiled at Kageyama. “It’s a cute mark, kind of like a feather, don’t you think?”

          Tsukishima glanced at Kageyama, waiting for him to slam down her claims and call the mark ‘manly’ instead, but he was irresponsive. As if he was frozen completely when Yachi entered and made her comment. Then, he ran pass her and out the door, which slammed behind him and caused the other two to flinch from the noise.

          “Oh no, I think I said the wrong thing to him,” Yachi said in distraught. She sat on the armchair across Tsukishima and looked down at the coffee table, where Kageyama’s abandoned notes and stationeries were scattered all over. “Did I tell you about how he got that mark?”

          “Not at all,” he replied.

          “His family restaurant had been destroyed in a fire and his dreams were shattered. The mark must’ve been from that. I didn’t want to mention the fire to him but… I really want him to be cheerful again, like the first time I met him.”

          Tsukishima understood where she was coming from because he could tell how passionate Kageyama was about cooking. It was evident in the way he spent hours in the parlor’s kitchen without fail, presenting to not one but five people of his sweet creations, each day a different recipe. Kageyama’s too hotheaded and simpleminded for Tsukishima’s preference in friends but even he’s aware that something so traumatizing shouldn’t be taken lightly. After all, Kageyama did lose a lot to that fire, not just his house. It’s just that Tsukishima couldn’t have been wrong to have suspected something fishy going on with him several days after.

          Yachi was visibly weakened throughout club’s daily meeting. She would show up to the parlor but otherwise, didn’t contribute much, only sitting and listening. She looked very exhausted, like something’s draining her out of energy, leaving barely enough to go about the rest of the day. It was disheartening to see that, and it reminded Tsukishima of the climatic arc in _Hotaru_ when an evil wizard had poisoned the spirit by tricking them into drinking a healing elixir. Their power was receding, the fireflies in the lantern slowly dying out because they couldn’t release them into the wild before dawn.

          Tsukishima wasn’t well-versed in how to cope with pain, whether physical or psychological, but Yachi clearly needed one desperately, so he decided to pull out his one secret card.

          “I didn’t know you were a massage specialist too,” Yachi teased, but her voice was croaky and her countenance weary. Her eyes went shut as she laid her head back on the armchair, giving in to the soothing kneads on her arm.

          “Shut up. I’m helping you,” Tsukishima mumbled abashedly. His hands rubbed down her arm in calculated precision, slicked with the rose oil he’d smeared over. “It’s effective to relieve fatigue. Unless you want me to stop?”

          “No, no. It feels good. Keep going.”

          Tsukishima rolled his eyes but he kept quiet when he saw her brows start to unwind. He’d only seen the massage done twice but it wasn’t anything too complicated to pull off spontaneously – whenever his mother was worn-out from long hours of illustrating, his older brother would prepare scented candles and make her sit back while he massaged her arms with rose oil. There were no scented candles to be found, so Tsukishima had to dismiss that, but the scent of the oil should suffice.

          “Shall we listen to some music?” Hinata suggested from where he sat on the stool near the bookshelves. “It’s a little too quiet and it kinda dampens my mood.”

          “Don’t play anything too noisy, Hinata,” Yamaguchi told him, emerging from the kitchen with a tray of glasses and lemon-infused water. He placed it carefully on the coffee table and began to place a glass for each member, when Yachi demanded huskily for one.

          Yamaguchi quickly poured for her and she pulled her arm away from Tsukishima’s hands to take it with both hands, muttering a throaty _thank you_. Both boys watched wordlessly as she downed all of it in a single inhale, and when they turned to Hinata, they found that he was watching as well. The three of them exchanged a concerned expression while Yachi reached to pour another glass for herself, but none of them knew how to address the problem. It went without saying that Yachi was in no shape to be enthusiastic about the upcoming sports festival, and they could only help with keeping her spirits up as best as they could.

          After the relay race where Kageyama had won over Hinata, Tsukishima had accompanied Yachi back to the parlor so she could rest for the remaining hours left till the end of the sports festival. It’s a good thing that she only participated in her class relay race, because he was sure she wouldn’t last another minute standing outside the scorching sun.

          Tsukishima told the other members of Yachi’s condition and whereabouts and advised them to leave her, so it didn’t surprise him when he found her still asleep on the sofa.

          “Tsukishima,” she suddenly said, surprising him. “How was everyone’s competition?”

          “Shimizu’s class won the cavalry and Yamaguchi’s team lost in treasure hunt. I, on the other hand, have decided that I hate lacrosse with a burning passion.”

          Yachi let out a breath, which must’ve been a laugh. She propped herself up with an arm while Tsukishima sat on the single armchair. “There’s something that’s been on my mind lately,” she began sleepily. “Can I tell you about it?”

          “Shoot.”

          “I’ve been thinking about closing this club.”

          Tsukishima stared at her. “You want to _what?”_

          “I haven’t been feeling well lately, so maybe I might switch to homeschooling instead. It’s not so bad – my situation, I mean. I just have my reasons. I don’t want to abruptly end activities because of my selfish wants so I was thinking of handing it to Shimizu, but she too has become busy as of late, being a third year and all,” Yachi explained.

          “So you’re just going to close it?”

          Kageyama was standing by the door of the parlor, hair mussed from the blue headband tied around his forehead. He must’ve gone for a cool-down jog as he was glistening with sweat. “The parlor – you’re just going to close it like this?”

          “You have to understand, Kageyama. It’s not my first choice either—”

          “What you’re doing is beyond selfishness, you know? Using your own power to open this club and then closing it down when you’ve had enough… What are we, some dolls you play house with?”

          Tsukishima empathized with Kageyama, knowing that the parlor’s kitchen had become his sanctuary after the fire, but that didn’t condone the way he was speaking to Yachi. “Hey, think before saying anything. I know you’re affected but you should listen to her first.”

          “You’re the last person I want to hear that from,” Kageyama snapped at him before turning back to Yachi. “If you were looking to ask for our votes, I say no and that is final.” Then he was on his heels, out of the parlor and probably running instead of jogging.

          Tsukishima could only offer a few words of reassurance to Yachi. He made up his mind to lecture Kageyama on his impudence the next day, but he had reverted to his old state that Tsukishima felt it inappropriate to pursue with his plan. He’d even made meringue pudding for the members and they looked delectable, so Tsukishima figured he could let it slide for the day.

          “Why do you always give the best ones to Yachi?” Hinata whined next to Kageyama. “It’s not like she eats all of it. You should give them to _me_ , the athlete in need of nutrition.”

          “Dumbass, of course the best ones are for Yachi.”

          “But Hinata is right,” Shimizu said. “Yachi? Are you going to eat it?”

          Yachi nodded. “Yes, because Kageyama made them specially for me,” she smiled at him, picking up her plate.

          Tsukishima nearly brought up the incident yesterday but thankfully held back his tongue, because Kageyama could actually be repenting for it with this. He’s not a bad guy; he just doesn’t have a filter between his thoughts and his words. On top of that, he makes killer desserts. No one can truly hate a guy who makes desserts every day.

          “Man, I can only eat these kind of stuff in here,” Hinata hummed delightedly as he chewed, his face full of bliss. “I mean, I do get to eat cake and all but they don’t come in different types like this!”

          “I know, right?” Yamaguchi agreed. “I remember the first time I came here, Yachi gave me her share of profiteroles. I’ve never eaten so much sweetness that my stomach felt weird and I had to empty it in the toilet.”

          “Maybe you’re just not used to it?”

          “I think so.”

          As the two of them laughed, the gears in Tsukishima’s head began to spin in incredible speed. The cogs were fitting in so rapidly that it wouldn’t take a genius to figure it out – Tsukishima was certain of his deductions.

          “Yachi, you don’t have to eat it if you won’t want to,” Tsukishima said to her, unbothered to keep it between just her and him. The other members perked up at his statement, chewing significantly slower. Kageyama’s eyes shifted from Yachi to Tsukishima and the two of them locked gazes. “It’s poison for your body.”

          “Poison?” Yamaguchi stuttered next to him, looking down at his pudding.

          “Hey, Scaryshima, don’t scare us like that! Why would this guy try to poison us?” Hinata glanced at Kageyama with cream smeared around his lips.

          Tsukishima sighed. He wasn’t aiming to create mass panic among the others. “Too much sweetness is poisonous; that’s what I’m implying,” he clarified, annoyed. “Yachi’s condition hasn’t been the greatest, so I’m just looking out for her.”

          The relieved sighs got a laugh out of Tsukishima. “I hope you get well soon, Yachi, so Hinata won’t keep trying to convince our resident chef to start giving him your portions,” Tsukishima said to Yachi but stared at Kageyama, who kept his eyes on him. Tsukishima ensured that Kageyama also knew that he was keeping a close eye on him, and that his eye contact transmitted a clear-cut message.

          _I will protect her from you_.

 

[ Epilogue ]

 

Tsukishima’s life after Yachi’s death suffocated him. His Hotaru, his own guidance spirit, his firefly – she was taken from him little by little in fraternization. The crow’s feather served as a sweet memory for him as he still has the crow plush toy, but it was also a despicable object that held more meaning than it appeared to have.

          Tsukishima would never forgive him. The one who’d deliberately poisoned and robbed his firefly out of her life for his own wants.

 

[ Fin ]

 

“Thank you very much. A rather romantic and sweet love story you’d written, Tsukishima.”

          He placed down his manuscript and avoided Shimizu entirely, drowning out the applause from the other members. He strictly kept his head turned away from them, feeling slightly defensive from having to read out his own writing.

          “It’s also accompanied by Tsukishima’s unique point of view, with the incorporation of his childhood fairytale.” Shimizu smiled at them. “This will be the last story from the four of you. Hinata Shouyou, the stage is all yours.”

          With a resolved exhale, Hinata unclenched his fists and stood, fighting back the urge to hurl and wrap his arms around his shivering body.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOH and we're finally here, last story by the boys and almost there at the end OOF. What a journey this has been. I'd like to say that while it was difficult to write for each of them a distinct narrative, Hinata's was the easiest cause a) he's probably the one who sucks at story-writing, and b) he gets scared easily so it's easy for me to write his part when the theme is like blatantly spelled out for me. Also also, I wanna thank everyone for coming this far and also pat myself on the back for coming this far too, and I hope you'll stick around till the end.
> 
> Without further ado, here's the final puzzle piece.

* * *

 [ Jizo’s sleeves. ]

by Hinata Shouyou

 

The advent of Hinata’s permanent pursue in a sport began in middle school, when he saw the Little Giant from a television being displayed outside an electronics shop. Later, he learned that people spoke of his height as a weakness, but he saw it as an advantage. Not many could become the ace of a sports team that prioritizes height more than skills, and from that day onwards, there was no going back for Hinata as soon as the image made itself important in his mind.

          Hinata is a pure athlete – he was always going for anything that he finds interesting and went at it with all he has, although none of them were interesting enough nor worked out to his favor for him to continue. Volleyball was just the same because he had to start from square one, but it was much more difficult because he was truly going at it headfirst. Lacking in foundation was natural and his height factor proved him to be the downside of his team, but his possession of speed and stamina made up for that large hole. Tenaciously, Hinata fought for a team of his own, then he fought to stay on the team with his own power, and eventually, he was fighting for victory. By the time he reached that point, he already had Coach Ukai assisting him. In his second year of high school, Hinata was crowned the second Little Giant and he’s carried that name ever since.

          He was overjoyed that people no longer underestimated him for his height and he was only getting better with each tournament. Hinata believed this was what people called happiness, but he also believed that it was a fragile thing. That if he held onto it for too long and with too much vigor, it would slip out of his hands and shatter by his feet. He wasn’t wrong, yet it came as a bombshell when it happened.

          Coach Ukai was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer and it had immobilized his limbs, so he couldn’t move around without a wheelchair and someone pushing it. But what served as the final blow was that water started to fill his lungs and he had to stay in the hospital for weeks, which turned into months. Without a pillar of support by his side, Hinata succumbed to a major slump but refused to pull back from his activities. He persevered and used the pressure to strive for more, which did get him a national title as Japan’s next best middle blocker, even if it was at the expense of his health. Mass media grew violent from his achievements but also the sudden disappearance of his coach, and they’d crossed the line by invading his private life.

          With no parents to hide behind, Hinata had nobody to rely on but himself. Furthermore, he had Natsu, his younger sister, to look after, and he worried for her safety not due to travelling by foot down the slopes to get to the bus stop, but the pesky reporters and cameras that often waited for their arrival in town. He worried so much and did all he could to protect her, but it wasn’t enough.

          Natsu died from a car crash on a main road as she was heading home. She had been trying to outrun a group of bullies from her school harassing her about her brother and in her hurry to cross the road, Natsu failed to look both sides before making a run for it. The car had been stepping on it far too long to brake in time and Hinata didn’t blame it. He blamed her death on himself.

          It was right before Hinata had lost all hope that Yachi Madoka swooped in and took him under her wing. She managed to curb the nationwide mass uproar regarding Hinata and became his official guardian. When asked, she said Coach Ukai was her friend of sixteen years and had contacted her to look after his most valuable pupil. Coach Ukai, the man who’d raised Hinata and his sister unconditionally, made that his dying wish before passing several hours after Natsu’s accident.

         Yachi Madoka had a daughter, Yachi Hitoka, and she became Natsu’s unofficial substitute. She was loved and adored by many in the campus and nearly a carbon copy of her mother, but brighter and more cheerful. She was the first to hold out her hand to him and let him into the Literature Club, where he could keep to himself away from the malicious and careless comments from the other students, but it could only do so much to distract his dispirited mind.

          “So, are you going to make your comeback on the court again?” Yachi asked him one day in the parlor, Shimizu sipping tea next to him. “I’m looking forward to seeing your quick attacks!”

          “I’m joining the team this week, but I don’t know if I’m going to be as good as I was,” Hinata admitted ruefully with a shy smile. “I’m afraid my performance has gone down the drain in the time I haven’t been practicing.”

          “Don’t say that! I’m sure you’ll do good! Just do things at your own pace. You can use this parlor whenever you need a time out of practice.”

          Hinata nodded, thankful for her kindness as well as her mother’s. With both his closest people gone from the world, Hinata was truly alone. It would’ve weighed heavily on him and forced him down under should he remain on his own a little longer, so he was extremely lucky that both mother and daughter were looking out for him. Although, there were certain times where he felt uncomfortable being under their care, but more so in the parlor, when Yachi insisted he go check his body.

          “You should go to the doctor, Hinata,” Yachi told him another day, sitting next to him with a concerned furrow of her brows. She put a hand over one of his and squeezed gently. “Your migraines don’t sound like they’re going anywhere, and there’s also your muscle cramps keeping you back from cycling uphill.”

          “I can just take some prescription medicines and rest more. And about the cycling, I’ll only cycle home on the weekends.” He shrugged. “No biggie.”

          “But still, just to be safe, you need to go to the doctor. It’s better to spot health problems earlier than later. Who knows if it’ll affect your performance on the court?”

          “I’m fine, Yachi. I’ve had this body since forever; I know it best!”

          It’s a white lie and he knew he had been wrong to get agitated at Yachi, who was only worrying for him, but she’d kept at it relentlessly that Hinata was tired from entertaining her. Besides, he’d rather not go anywhere close to a hospital. It reminded him too much of Coach Ukai and Natsu, having to enter a cold white room to pull down the sheets so he could see their cold pale faces. Hinata was fine and dandy with the way things were at the moment, even though he occasionally has the urge to take down all the books from the bookshelves so they all laid in a dusty heap on the floor, much like how his head felt.

          It’s true that Hinata had joined the academy’s volleyball team but he still feared stepping onto the court, so he would only ever sit on the bench and sporadically contributed to the team by telling them what to improve or what to change in their strategies. Otherwise, Hinata was always in the parlor, going around and picking random books to suppress his constant need to thrash the place.

          It was one of the many times he’d skipped practices that he met Tsukishima Kei. He’d been watching videos on Japan’s most chilling urban legends, draped over an armchair and nearly sliding off when he got scared from a story. Shimizu and Yachi were in their respective classes while Kageyama was absent to move into a new house after the fire, so it was just him in the parlor at late afternoon.

          “Only idiots believe in these,” he chuckled to himself as he turned off the video to look for more. If Hinata was still the same Hinata from middle school, he wouldn’t have dared to watch it, let alone when there’s no one else around to share the horror with, but he’s seen far worse than the slit-mouthed woman or _kappa_. He’s grown immune to them given the fact that he and Natsu lived deep in the mountains by themselves, where their nearest neighbor is at least ten minutes away.

          “But… _hachishakusama_ … you’re quite terrifying.” He pushed himself upright and disinterestedly scrolled through the search results. “If you weren’t a creepy lady who steals children, I would be jealous of your height.”

          He stopped on a picture, a full-body shot of the eight-feet-tall woman. White dress, white sunhat, long pale limbs and a slim narrow face. Her hair was black, so black that it sucked all the light from the background and made the rest of her illuminate blindingly. He wanted to exit the tab and forget about the videos he'd watched out of boredom, but something was keeping him glued on the spot and staring at her.

          The hairs at the back of his neck rose and it was a sneeze that snapped him out of his trance. Hinata sighed and stood, but was struck with the realization that the sneeze had not come from him. Then, a series of a single syllable that he dreaded most rang in the supposedly silent parlor, _po… po… po… po…_

          Hinata whipped around to the direction of the sound. No tall lady in a white dress looking down at him with an eerie smile. His heart thundered in his chest and he punched at it to calm down. “Geez, I’m hearing things now,” he said to himself with humor, but his mouth was dry and he was making wheezy noises. “Looks like I’ll need more than just painkillers.”

          “What about painkillers?”

          Hinata shrieked. _There_ the culprit was, standing behind him as he coughed behind a hand. His coughing sounded oddly like _po… po… po…_ , which caught Hinata off-guard because he was spooked by all the videos, but this was no _hachishakusama_. This was a guy, tall and slender, with short blond hair and black spectacles. He wasn’t wearing a white dress nor a sunhat, but he had on a white sweater. Hinata slumped back against the armchair with a thump, gawking at the stranger in fright.

          “This place is so dusty,” the guy choked, waving a hand back and forth before his face. “How do you expect to hang in here without falling sick?”

          “Who are you?”

          Hinata squeaked when the stranger glared at him. “Who are _you?_ Are you sure you didn’t meander into the wrong school by accident?”

          “What?”

          “You look like a child, is what I’m implying.”

          Hinata was ready to launch himself onto the stranger for mocking his childlike feature but remembered about how  _hachishakusama_ marks kids that she likes by confronting them. Feeling partly enraged by the stranger and partly worried that he might be looking at the tall woman’s son, Hinata quickly said, “Why should you care? You’re the one who meandered in here by accident.”

          “That is no accident. I came here because the president told me to.”

          If he wasn’t so busy trying to appear calm, Hinata would’ve laughed at how quick he was to calm down at the mention of Yachi. “Yachi? You know her?” he perked up.

          The stranger nodded, brushing the back of his hand against his nose while sniffling. “Yeah, she invited me to her club,” he answered. “And you’re one of the members, I suppose?”

          “Yeah… Hinata Shouyou.”

          “Tsukishima Kei.”

          Yachi did invite Tsukishima to the club and told him to wait there, so she could introduce him to the others. Hinata wasn’t as enthusiastic about Tsukishima’s entry as he was with Kageyama’s, not after that spooky meeting. He was still apprehensive about Tsukishima’s true identity because sure – it wasn’t exactly _hachishakusama_ he’d met and Hinata wasn’t a child to begin with, so he had been paranoid for no reason. But then again, the possibilities were endless, and with Tsukishima’s first impression of Hinata was that he’d looked like a child, maybe Tsukishima was a different branch of the urban legend. Maybe instead of marking literal children, he marks people that _look_ like children.

          It made sense in retrospect because Tsukishima didn’t seem like the type to associate with those in the Literature Club, unless he’d marked Yachi beforehand and decided that he could sacrifice a little, if it meant getting her in the end. Hinata’s convinced of it and he was set on protecting Yachi from him.

          A week later, he found Tsukishima at the entrance of the campus, where a large fountain sat at the center and was often visited by murders of crows. He was feeding them corn from a packet, showering the cobblestone ground. Hinata watched as the little black birds pecked at the corns while several giggly girls stared at Tsukishima from a distance, who paid them no mind. He was more fixated on the birds, but Hinata knew it was because he’d marked Yachi, which was why he probably wasn’t aware of them.

          “Stop staring at me.”

         Hinata jumped. “What are you doing? You’re not supposed to litter,” he said.

          “I’m not littering, you idiot. I’m feeding them.”

          Hinata could see that but he wasn’t going to pick a fight with Tsukishima. “Yeah, but for what?”

         Tsukishima turned to him and glowered. Hinata regretted staring at him in the first place, but he saw the other’s expression soften as he turned back to the birds. “Yachi said she’s always wanted to feed the crows here, but never got to because her mother forbids her,” he explained as matter-of-factly. “So she got me to feed them instead.”

          Hinata wasn’t surprised that Tsukishima would obey Yachi’s words, since he understood that to get Yachi completely, one must do as she said. “So kind of you. Did she bribe you into it?”

         Tsukishima paused. He was quiet momentarily and Hinata tilted his head in anticipation. “She did, but not in the way you’re thinking,” he finally admitted. He peppered a handful of corns as more crows dove from all over the place to crowd by his feet. “She said that her mother could help to cover up my brother’s hospital expenses, if my mother worked for hers. Which I thought was weird, since my mother’s already working for her.”

          Hinata was hesitant about what Tsukishima was saying because he heard a different story. The other day, Yachi had advised him to stay in his room because her mother was cranky about something that went wrong in her workplace, which was that the chosen poster for the national volleyball tournament could not be used because the designer refused to sell it off. Yachi elaborated that the designer wouldn’t get credited for her work because the profits will go into the graphics team collectively, so she’d turned down the offer and even rejected the job offered by Yachi’s mother. If the designer was Tsukishima’s mother, then Tsukishima was doing all this for naught.

          He didn’t want to be the cause of a rift between Tsukishima and Yachi, although initially he did want to keep them both as far away as possible. It was from then onwards that Hinata stopped assuming that Tsukishima wanted to harm Yachi and that he was only trying to help his family who lives far away. Kind of like Hinata himself, except he had no one but himself to help.

          The thought kept him awake that night. In his mind, the truth and the lie had a line drawn between them and Hinata was standing on it, like the umpire overlooking the two players. On the lie’s side, Tsukishima, and on the truth’s side, Yachi. She gave Hinata a look of sympathy before facing Tsukishima, who’s oblivious to the telepathic message she’d sent. _He mustn’t know about this_ , her eyes said and Hinata felt guilt creeping up the chair he sat atop and coiling around his ankles and wrists, tying him down to the inevitable want to tell the truth to Tsukishima and the necessary need to uphold the lie with Yachi.

          It was relatively bad compared to what regularly keeps him insomniac, so as soon as he knew the campus gates would open, Hinata decided that he go for a morning jog around the track field. Saying it’s a good idea to keep things out of his mind was an overstatement, but the fizzy sensation in his muscles became the more immediate focus of his mind, which was better than nothing.

          As he was making his last round, he saw Tsukishima walking into the park holding a round object. It was dark and there was excess fog from last night’s downpour, but Hinata could well see that it was indeed Tsukishima, heading deeper into the park where the larger and taller trees dominated. Using the bleachers as a cover, Hinata watched to see what Tsukishima was planning to do amongst the trees and that thing in his hands.

          The ‘thing’ was a plush toy, but it took Hinata a lot of squinting and changes in angles to see that it was of a crow. Then, Tsukishima slammed it against a tree trunk, hard and forcefully, like he wanted to jam it into the tree. He had a déjà vu to the first time he met Tsukishima – his hairs stood in alarmingly speed and it wasn’t just the cold of the morning that made him have goosebumps. It was also seeing Tsukishima pull out a pair of scissors and stabbing the tip right into the plush toy.

          Hinata thought he was about to hurl at that second, but he pressed a hand over his mouth and hoped it muffled his retching sounds. He had to leave before Tsukishima caught him staring again, but just as he had when he saw the picture of _hachishakusama_ , he was frozen in place and couldn’t will himself to move. Petrified, Hinata had no option but to continue witnessing Tsukishima ram the scissors over and over into the plush toy, until it was pouring out cotton.

          Yachi was late to the club meeting later that day. Hinata was horrified by the thought of Tsukishima having voodooed her and that the stabs were meant to kill her. However, she did appear, albeit a little pale on the face, and dispelled their fears by saying that she had chest pains in the morning and went to the doctor to check it. She added that she was feeling better, but Hinata wasn’t persuaded. He knew it was Tsukishima who’d cursed her and tried to kill her, and his convictions were proven true when he saw Tsukishima stitching up the holes on the plush toy.

          Tsukishima lifted his gaze and directed it at him, a small knowing smile spreading across his lips. _I know you saw me_ , it said, and while it was freaking him out, it hardened Hinata’s determination to protect Yachi.

          Over time, the stitches on the plush toy multiplied and covered nearly its entire body, leaving barely any black 'feathers', and Hinata knew that it’d gotten stabbed multiple times and stitched back again, an endless cycle of torture that only Tsukishima was capable of. And in the same span, Yachi’s health was degrading tremendously which Hinata believed it to be Tsukishima’s curse on her. It must be his grudge upon learning that he had been lied to by Yachi the whole time.

          She was so sick that she couldn’t even consume the sweets that Kageyama made because they were her favorite, telling them that her body would feel uneasy if she took in too much sugar. Hinata has never seen her so restless too, so much so that her eyelids were drooping and her breathing became shallower. And she’d been worried for his health before this, but now she was the one who needed to be worried over.

          After the sports festival, when Hinata lost to Kageyama and was badly insulted by Tsukishima, he went off to get some respite from the endless chaos centered on the grudge holder. Hinata was kicking back some scattered gravel into the trough that ran along the seams of the grasses when he spotted Yachi sitting on a bench, alone and untouched by evil.

          He bounded towards her, excited, and sat next to her. “Yachi! What are you doing here? You weren’t there to watch the race, right? It’s a good thing cause you don’t need to see how Kageyama was cheating,” he said exuberantly. “Anyways, after we’re done with this, we’re going to the animal shelter to look at some puppies, right?”

          “I’m not going there,” Yachi began quietly, shaking her head. “I can’t go there! All those animals… it’s horrible in there!”

          The complete change in behavior had Hinata panicking. He knew things had gone bad, that this was serious, because whatever curse Tsukishima had casted on Yachi, it had somehow expanded to the concept of rescued animals. It could be that the stabbing of the crow plush toy had led Yachi to fear them, which would be bad if this continued. Yachi’s aunt sometimes leaves her two pet dogs with her when she goes outstation and her two nephews recently adopted a rabbit.

          Hinata couldn’t just leave things as it was.

          “Yachi—” he moved to touch her shoulder, but she jerked before he actually did and jumped to her feet, quivering. “Yachi!”

          “I don’t want to go there!” she screamed before running off in hysteria.

         Hinata stood and raced after her, fear gripping him. “Yachi!” he called after her, but she was too fast. It was at that moment that he wished he’d practiced at least his running more often because he’d become slower, much slower than even Yachi, who was not athletic or known for her speed.

          “Yachi!” he kept calling, even as he’d entered the main building of the campus. Swooping in between groups of people, merely missing a girl carrying a tray of cookies, vaulting over tables and boxes deposited in the corridors – he ran as fast as his feet could take him. “Sorry! Passing through!” It was painful; his body was begging for him to stop, but he couldn’t. The cramps in his muscles spewed fire all over his legs and lungs, burning alight with terror as fuel. He pushed himself harder until he skidded to a stop at the entrance foyer, where the sight before him nearly cut off his access to catch his breath.

          At the top of the stairs, stood Tsukishima carrying a limp Yachi in his arms. Hinata felt his blood run cold. If he’d been trying to wipe out that image of _hachishakusama_ out of his mind, it wasn’t working now. Tsukishima had never looked so identical to her but in that all-white lacrosse uniform and the white headband tied around his head. Despite the distance, Hinata could feel the hostility of his gaze, and it was unmistakably antagonistic as Tsukishima was descending the steps, carefully and quietly so as to not jolt Yachi awake.

          “What are you doing to her?” Hinata demanded when Tsukishima reached the landing.

          “I’m not doing anything.” He glanced down at Yachi, who looked calm and at peace with her eyes closed, head against Tsukishima’s shoulder. “She’s not feeling well, as you can see. I’ll take her back to the parlor so she can rest.”

          “You—”

          “Please don’t make any unnecessary commotion about this. She’s very tired,” Tsukishima interjected, frowning at him in miniscule.

          Hinata couldn’t make himself say or do anything as Tsukishima walked away, taking Yachi with him. In Hinata’s muddled thoughts, he could only view Tsukishima as a devil taking away Yachi’s soul for his devouring. Or rather, _hachishakusama’s_ son bringing home his first catch.

 

[ Epilogue ]

 

It was disturbing, even to Hinata who’s seen so many things in his life, and when Yachi died two days later. He couldn’t bring himself to think about her. He'd lost three people who were very important to him, all because he wasn't there to protect them.

          When it was discovered that she held a crow’s feather in her hands, as she laid in that bed of flowers, Hinata thought it was put there on purpose, which seemed plausible. But he couldn’t bring himself to think about it.

 

[ Fin ]

 

“Hinata Shouyou, thank you very much for reading your story,” Shimizu pushed herself away from where she leaned against the windowsill. “A round of applause, please.”

          Hinata didn’t wait for Shimizu’s cue to return to his seat. His legs shook with every step and he didn’t want to meet anyone’s eyes, especially not those of Tsukishima's who sat right across him.

          “Even though you’re not the best in writing, your script was the most compelling to listen to. It was horror-themed, wasn’t it?” Shimizu laughed lightly. “It’s very like you to write something like that. And just like that, a new suspect appears, huh?”

          Tsukishima crossed his arms on the table and hunched into himself.

          “Then, the last one.” Shimizu walked towards the study table, where she put down the candle to pick up a manuscript. As she slowly made for the podium, she said, “Actually, this story was not written by me. It was by Yachi Hitoka herself.”

          Thunder. The four members became alert as lightning lit the room. Hinata was on his feet and shaking badly when he croaked, “What do you mean?”

          “Hinata Shouyou, please sit down,” Shimizu smiled, but it was a strained one.

          “Yachi wrote that?!”

          “Do _not_ disobey. You are not allowed to speak.”

          Hinata staggered back, bewildered at her serious stare.

          “Do not ruin the story that Yachi loves.” Shimizu’s stare melted into her usual kind smile and she said to them, “Please listen until the end.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohoho, now that we've reached the climax, who do you think is the culprit?


End file.
